Welfare reform is as important a task now as it ever has been. With unemployment rising, increasing numbers are coming into contact with Jobcentre Plus and claiming benefits - many for the first time in their lives.

The government has brought in about £2bn of help for unemployed people. This is being used to support those facing redundancy, to help with mortgage payments, and to improve training opportunities. From next month the government will bring in cash incentives for employers to recruit and train people who have been unemployed for six months and support for people starting their own businesses.

For most, unemployment should be a short-term problem. People still get jobs during downturns - last month 244,000 stopped claiming jobseeker's allowance, and at last count there were more than half a million vacancies in the UK economy. Even in these difficult times, 60% of people get a job within three months of becoming unemployed, and 75% within six months. The measures in the welfare reform bill before parliament are designed to help the 25% who find getting another job more difficult, who are still looking for work after six months.

Some commentators have suggested we should halt the reforms: global recession and rising unemployment, they argue, mean it is not the right time. This is totally wrong, and risks, as in previous recessions, plunging people into long-term unemployment and storing up problems for the future.

Work is not just about a wage packet. Having a job gives people the vital sense that they are making a contribution. It doesn't just give them a reason to get up in the morning; it allows them to develop their skills and abilities.

Welfare reform is about further personalising the service, giving lone parents access to expert advisers who understand the challenges they face. It's about giving people with health conditions tailored support, advice and funding for adaptations that can be made at work to help them stay in a job. Simple things like installing specialist IT equipment can mean the difference between working and claiming.

It's about giving disabled people the right to control the help made available to them by public authorities. This is not just about helping them take their full part in the nation's economic and social life; it is also about empowerment and, most of all, dignity. The vast majority of people claiming benefits want to work - and welfare reform is about having the right support in place to help them realise that ambition. The bill will give people the right to increasingly personalised support from both Jobcentre Plus and private and third-sector experts. In return we expect people to take advantage of the help on offer and do everything they can to get back to work.

Some have criticised the increased responsibilities the bill will place on people claiming benefits - the additional requirements to take up training or a work trial. But these things are designed to help people improve their skills, try out new careers and broaden their abilities - and with that their horizons. Welfare reform is not about forcing people into a choice between an unsuitable job or having their benefits cut - it's about helping people find sustainable work.

An independent review by Professor Paul Gregg from Bristol University found that this system of support and conditions does work. And I've heard first hand from some of the many people who have already been helped because they've volunteered for this increased support under the current system. They ask, time and time again: why didn't you make me do this sooner? As we debate the merits of welfare reform today in the House, I will be thinking of all the people I have met in the last six months for whom the system has worked.

A more active welfare state, which engages with people as individuals, which improves their skills and increases their aspirations, can transform lives. That's why welfare reform is important.